All in the Family is an American sitcom series that was originally broadcast on the CBS television network from January 12, 1971, to April 8, 1979. In September 1979, a new show, Archie Bunker's Place, picked up where All in the Family had ended. That sitcom lasted another four years, ending its run in 1983.

Produced by Norman Lear and Bud Yorkin, All in the Family revolved around the life of a working class bigot and his family. It is based on the British television comedy series Till Death Us Do Part.[1] Despite being considerably softer in its approach than its BBC predecessor, the show broke ground in its depiction of issues previously considered unsuitable for U.S. network television comedy, such as racism, homosexuality, women's liberation, rape, miscarriage, abortion, breast cancer, the Vietnam War, menopause, and impotence. Through depicting these controversial issues, the series became arguably one of television's most influential comedic programs, as it injected the sitcom format with real-life conflicts.[2]

Following a lackluster first season, the show soon became the most watched show in the United States during summer reruns[3] and afterwards ranked number one in the yearly Nielsen ratings from 1971 to 1976. It became the first television series to reach the milestone of having topped the Nielsen ratings for five consecutive years, a mark later matched by The Cosby Show and surpassed by American Idol, which notched eight consecutive seasons at #1. The episode "Sammy's Visit" was ranked #13 on TV Guide's 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time.[4]TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time ranked All in the Family as #4. Bravo also named the show's protagonist, Archie Bunker, TV's greatest character of all time.[5]

Contents

Premise

The comedy revolves around Archie Bunker (Carroll O'Connor), a working-class World War II veteran. He is an outspoken bigot, seemingly prejudiced against everyone who is not a U.S.-born, politically conservative, heterosexual White Anglo-Saxon Protestant male, and dismissive of anyone not in agreement with his view of the world. His ignorance and stubbornness tend to cause his malapropism-filled arguments to self-destruct. He often responds to uncomfortable truths by blowing a raspberry. He longs for simpler times when people sharing his viewpoint were in charge, as evidenced by the nostalgic theme song "Those Were the Days," the show's original title. Despite his bigotry, he is portrayed as lovable and decent, as well as a man who is simply struggling to adapt to the changes in the world, rather than someone motivated by hateful racism or prejudice.

By contrast, Archie's wife, Edith (Jean Stapleton), is a sweet and understanding, if somewhat naive, woman. She usually defers to her husband. On the rare occasions when Edith takes a stand, she proves to be one of the wisest characters, as evidenced in the episodes "The Battle of the Month" and "The Games Bunkers Play". Archie often tells her to "stifle" herself and calls her a "dingbat".[6] Despite their different personalities they love each other deeply.

They have one child, Gloria (Sally Struthers), who is married to college student (and eventually professor) Michael Stivic (Rob Reiner). "Michael" is referred to as "Meathead" by Archie and "Mike" by nearly everyone else. Mike is a bit of a hippie, and his morality is informed by the liberal counterculture of the 1960s. He and Archie represent the real-life clash between the so-called "greatest generation" who fought in World War II and the post World War II "baby boomers". They constantly clash over religious, political, social, and personal issues. For much of the series, the Stivics live in the Bunkers' home to save money, providing even more opportunity for the two men to irritate each other. When Mike finally finishes graduate school and the Stivics move out, it turns out to be to the house next door. The house was offered to them by George Jefferson, the Bunkers' former neighbor, who knows it will irritate Archie. In addition to calling him "Meathead", Archie also frequently cites Mike's Polish ancestry, referring to him as a "dumb Polack".

The show is set in the Astoria section of Queens, one of New York City's five boroughs, with the vast majority of scenes taking place in the Bunkers' home (and later, frequently, the Stivics' home). Occasional scenes take place in other locations, most often (especially during later seasons) Kelcy's Bar, a neighborhood tavern where Archie spends a good deal of time and which he eventually buys.

Cast

Main characters

Carroll O'Connor as Archie Bunker. Frequently called a "lovable bigot", Archie was an assertively prejudiced blue-collar worker. Former child actor Mickey Rooney was Lear's first choice to play Archie but Rooney declined the offer because of the strong potential for controversy and, in Rooney's opinion, a poor chance for success.

Jean Stapleton as Edith Bunker, née Baines. Stapleton remained with the show all through the original series run but decided to leave before the first season of Archie Bunker's Place had wrapped up. At that point Edith was written out as having suffered a stroke and died off-camera, leaving Archie to deal with the death of his beloved "dingbat". Stapleton appeared in all but four episodes of All In The Family and had a recurring role during the first season of Archie Bunker's Place.

Sally Struthers as Gloria Stivic, née Bunker. The Bunkers' college-age daughter was married to Michael Stivic. Gloria frequently attempted to mediate Archie's and Michael's arguments. The roles of the Bunkers' daughter and son-in-law (then named "Dickie") initially went to Candice Azzara and Chip Oliver. However, after seeing the show's pilot, ABC-TV, the original production company, requested a second pilot expressing dissatisfaction with both actors. Lear later recast the roles of "Gloria" and "Dickie" with Struthers and Reiner. Penny Marshall (Reiner's wife, whom he married in April 1971, shortly after the program began) was also considered for the role of Gloria. During the earlier seasons of the show, Struthers was known to be discontented with how static her part was, frequently coming off as irritating and having only a few token lines. As the series continued Gloria's character became more developed, satisfying Struthers.[7] Struthers appeared in 157 of the 202 episodes during the first eight seasons—from January 12, 1971 to March 19, 1978. She later reprised the role in the spin-off series Gloria, which lasted for a single season in 1982-83.

Rob Reiner as Michael Stivic. Gloria's Polish-American hippie husband was part of the counterculture of the 1960s. He constantly sparred with Archie (in the original pilot, the character "Michael" was Irish-American). Michael's character was, in many ways, as stubborn as Archie, even though his moral views were generally presented as being more ethical and his logic somewhat sounder. Though this was true, he was generally portrayed in a more negative light than Archie; Archie was portrayed in a more sympathetic sense, while Michael was portrayed as loudmouthed and at times, demanding. He consistently tried to prove himself correct (as evidenced in the episode "The Games Bunkers Play") and seemed desperate to convince people that his way was the right way to go all the time, even more than Archie, who gave up giving advice about his way when there was no point. This would occasionally, if not often, end him up in conflict with his friends and wife. For his bullheadedness, Stivic was sometimes criticized for being an elitist. He also struggled with assumptions of male superiority. He spoke of believing in female equality, but often tried to control Gloria's decisions and desires in terms of traditional gender roles. While Archie was a representation of right-wing bigotry and demonstrated the lion's share of the hypocrisy, Michael, on many occasions, showed his own. As discussed in All in the Family retrospectives, Richard Dreyfuss sought the part but Norman Lear was convinced to cast Reiner. Reiner appeared in 174 of the 202 episodes of the series during the first eight seasons—from January 12, 1971 to March 19, 1978. Reiner is also credited with writing three of the series' episodes.[8]

Supporting characters

Sherman Hemsley as George Jefferson, Isabel Sanford as his wife Louise, and Mike Evans as their son Lionel, Archie's black neighbors. George is Archie's combative black counterpart, while Louise is a smarter, more assertive version of Edith. Lionel first appeared in the series' premiere episode "Meet the Bunkers", with Louise appearing later in the first season. Although mentioned many times, George was not seen until 1973. Hemsley, who was Norman Lear's first choice to play George, was performing in the Broadway musical Purlie and did not want to break his commitment to that show. However, Lear kept the role waiting for him until he had finished his run with the musical. Plots frequently find Archie and George at odds with one another, while Edith and Louise attempt to join forces to bring about a resolution. They later moved to an Upper East Side apartment in Manhattan which resulted in their own show The Jeffersons.

Mel Stewart, as George's brother Henry Jefferson. The two appeared together only once, in the season 4, October 1973 episode "Henry's Farewell" in which the Bunkers host Henry's going-away party, marking Stewart's final episode and Hemsley's first. Even when the Jeffersons were spun off into their own show in 1975, Stewart's character was rarely referred to again and was never seen. In the closing credits of "The First and Last Supper" episode, Mel Stewart is incorrectly credited as playing "George Jefferson". Stewart was actually playing George's brother, Henry Jefferson, who was pretending to be George for most of the episode.

Bea Arthur as Edith's cousin Maude, a white-collared, ultra-liberal feminist and social progressive - the perfect foil to Archie and one of his main antagonists. She appeared in only two episodes: "Cousin Maude's Visit" where she took care of the Bunker household when they were all sick, and "Maude" during the show's second season. She then went on to her own spin-off series, Maude, in fall 1972.

Betty Garrett and Vincent Gardenia as the liberal, Catholic neighbors Irene and Frank Lorenzo. The couple first appeared in 1973 as new homeowners in the season 4 opening episode "We're Having a Heatwave", when Irene asks to use the Bunker's telephone. However, during an argument earlier in the episode, Archie and Mike broke the phone wire. Irene, being a 'handyman' of sorts who carries her own tools in her purse, fixes it. Irene repaired many things at the Bunker house during her time on the show. She had a sister who was a nun, appearing in one episode, "Edith's Conversion". It was revealed in the episode "Edith's Christmas Story" that Irene had a mastectomy. Irene was a strong-willed woman of Irish heritage with mechanical skills, and Frank was a jovial Italian househusband who loved cooking and singing. He also was a salesman, but it never was said what he sold. Irene eventually got a job as a forklift operator at the plant where Archie worked. Gardenia, who also appeared as Jim Bowman (the man who sold his house to the Jeffersons) and as Curtis Remply (a swinger husband opposite Rue McClanahan), became a semi-regular along with Garrett in 1973. Gardenia only stayed for one season as Frank Lorenzo, but Garrett remained until her character was phased out in late 1975.

Danielle Brisebois as Edith's 9-year-old grandniece, Stephanie Mills. The Bunkers take her in after the child's father, Floyd Mills, abandons her on their doorstep in 1978 after Mike and Gloria moved to California at the end of the previous season. (He later extorts money from them to let them keep her.) She would remain with the show through its transition to Archie Bunker's Place.

Allan Melvin as Archie's neighbor and best friend Barney Hefner. The character first appeared in 1972 as a fairly minor character. Barney's role expanded toward the end of the series, after the departures of Reiner and Struthers. He was a regular on Archie Bunker's Place.

Recurring characters

James Cromwell as Jerome "Stretch" Cunningham (1973–1976) "The Funniest Man in the World", Archie's friend and co-worker from the loading dock (Archie claims that he is known as the "Bob Hope" of the loading platform). What Archie did not know was that Stretch was Jewish, evident only after Stretch died and Archie went to the funeral. Archie's eulogy for his friend is often referred to as a rare occasion when he was capable of showing the humanity he tried so earnestly to hide. In the episode titled "Archie in the Cellar", Billy Sands is referred to as Stretch Cunningham, the voice on the tape recorder telling jokes. Sands also appeared as other characters on the show during its run, usually in Kelsey's Bar as a patron.

Liz Torres as Theresa Betancourt (1976–1977), a Puerto Rican nursing student, who initially meets Archie when he is admitted to the hospital for surgery; she later rents Mike's and Gloria's former bedroom at the Bunker house. She gets Archie's ire up whenever she calls him the affectionate nickname "Papi."

Bob Hastings as Tommy Kelsey or "Kelcy", who owns the bar Archie frequents and later buys. Kelcy was also played by Frank Maxwell in episode "Archie Gets the Business". The name of the establishment is Kelcy's Bar (as seen in the bar window in various episodes). However, in a continuity error, the end credits[9] of episodes involving the bar owner spell the name "Kelcy" for the first season and "Kelsey" thereafter, although the end credits show "Kelcy" in the season 8 episode "Archie Gets the Business".

Jason Wingreen as Harry Snowden, a bartender at Kelcy's, who continues to work there after Archie purchases it and eventually becomes his business partner. Harry wanted to buy the bar from Kelcy first, but Archie beat him to it by coming up with the money first.

Gloria LeRoy as Mildred "Boom-Boom" Turner, a buxom, middle-aged secretary at the plant where Archie works. Her first appearance was when Archie is lost on his way to a convention and Mike and Gloria suspect he and she could be having be having an affair. Archie gave her that moniker as she was walking by the loading dock. He said when she walked, "Boom-Boom". She is not initially fond of Archie due to his and Stretch's leering and sexist behavior, but later becomes friendly with him, occasionally working as a barmaid at Archie's Place. Gloria LeRoy also appeared in a third season episode as "Bobbi Joe," the wife of Archie's old war buddy "Duke".

Barnard Hughes as Father Majeskie, a local Catholic priest who was suspected by Archie one time of trying to convert Edith. He appeared in multiple episodes. The first time was when Edith accidentally hit Majeskie's car in the shopping parking lot with a can of cling peaches in heavy syrup.

Estelle Parsons as Blanche Hefner (1977–1979), Barney's second wife. Blanche and Archie are not fond of one another, though Edith likes her very much. The character is mentioned throughout much of the series after Barney's first wife, Mabel, had died, though she only appeared in a handful of episodes during the last couple of seasons. Estelle Parsons also appeared in the season 7 episode "Archie's Secret Passion" as Dolores Fencel.

Bill Quinn as Mr. Edgar Van Ranseleer (a.k.a. "Mr. Van R"), a blind man and regular bar customer at Kelcy's / Archie Bunker's Place. He was almost never referred to by his first name.

Nedra Volz as Aunt Iola. She was Edith's aunt, who was mentioned several times in the eighth season and stayed with the Bunkers for two weeks as a house guest. She wanted to move in but Archie would not allow it.

Francine Beers and Jane Connell as Sybil Gooley, who worked at Ferguson's Market. She predicted that Gloria and Mike were having a baby boy by performing a test on Gloria. She also appeared in the episode "Edith's 50th Birthday" and spilled the beans on her surprise party because she had not been invited. She and Archie did not get along and he referred to her as a "Big Mouth".

Rae Allen, Elizabeth Wilson, as Cousin Amelia. Archie detested both her and her husband who were both wealthy. Once she sent Edith a mink and Archie wanted to send it back, until he found out how much it was worth. In another episode, both Amelia and her husband gave the Bunkers Hawaiian shirts. Amelia was played by various actresses throughout the first few seasons of the show.

Clyde Kusatsu as Reverend Chong. Reverend Chong appeared in several episodes. He refused to baptize baby Joey in season 6, "remarried" both the Bunkers and the Stivics in season 8, and gave counsel to Stephanie in season 9 when it was revealed that she was Jewish.

Ruth McDevitt as Josephine 'Jo' Nelson. She played the girlfriend of Justin Quigley, an elderly man that Edith found walking around the supermarket. She appeared in three episodes during seasons 4-6. Gloria and Mike adopted them as their godgrandparents. Out of most of the characters, Archie took a liking to Justin and Jo. McDevitt died following the end of the sixth season.

William Benedict as Jim McNabb. He was Archie's and Edith's neighbor who was starting a petition to keep minorities out of their neighborhood. He appeared in two episodes during seasons 1-2 and was referred to many times during the first few seasons.

Gloria LeRoy played the wife of one of Archie's old Army buddies (Duke Loomis) in third-season episode "The Threat" and later portrayed Mildred "Boom-Boom" Turner in a few episodes between 1974 and 1978.

Marcia Rodd appeared in two episodes during the 1971–1972 season, playing two different characters: first as a single mother who accuses Mike of being the father of her eight-year-old son in "Mike's Mysterious Son", then as Maude's daughter Carol in the episode "Maude" (Adrienne Barbeau would assume the role of Carol in the spin-off series Maude). Marcia Rodd also appeared on Archie Bunker's Place in season 2, episode 3 ("Home Again") as real estate agent Allison Flanders.

Val Bisoglio played Tony Silvestri, the head of an Italian-American anti-defamation group, who pays Archie a visit concerning "organized crime" in "Archie Sees A Mugging" (season 2). He also appeared as an armed robber who robs Archie, Edith, Mike and Gloria at gunpoint at Kelcy's Bar while celebrating Gloria's new job and Archie's television appearance in "Archie and the Editorial" (season 3).

Priscilla Morrill played three roles: the nurse tending to Archie in "Archie Goes To The Hospital" (season 3); a high school classmate of Edith Bunker who repeats the line "God, He Was Beautiful" three times in regards to Buck Evans in the episode "Class Reunion" (season 3); and TV reporter Kate Korman, who interviews Edith and presents her with the "Citizen of the Week" award in "Mr. Edith Bunker" (season 7). Jean Stapleton also credited her as her stand-in during the episode "A Girl Like Edith" where Jean Stapleton plays the dual roles of Edith Bunker and Judith Klammerstadt.

Production

Lear bought the rights to Till Death Us Do Part and incorporated his own family experiences with his father into the show. Lear's father would tell Lear's mother to "stifle herself" and she would tell Lear's father "you are the laziest white man I ever saw" (two "Archieisms" that found their way onto the show). Three different pilots were shot for the series. Justice For All (1968) was shot in New York, and named in reference to Archie's family name (later changed to Bunker), while Those Were The Days (1969) was made in Hollywood. Different actors played the roles of Mike, Gloria, and Lionel in the first two.

Lear initially wanted to shoot in black and white. While CBS insisted on color, Lear had the set furnished in rather neutral tones, keeping everything relatively devoid of color. As wardrobe designer Rita Riggs described in her 2001 Archives of American Television interview, Lear's idea was to create the feeling of sepia tones, in an attempt to make viewers feel as if they were looking at an old family album.

All In The Family was the first major American series to be videotaped in front of a live studio audience. In the 1960s, most sitcoms had been filmed in the single-camera format without audiences, with a laugh track simulating audience response. Lear employed the Multi-camera format of shooting in front of an audience, but used tape, whereas previous multi-camera shows like Mary Tyler Moore had used film. Thanks to the success of All in the Family, videotaping sitcoms in front of an audience became common format for the genre during the 1970s. The use of videotape also gave All in the Family the look and feel of early live television, including the original live broadcasts of The Honeymooners, to which All in the Family is sometimes compared.

For the show's final season, the practice of being taped before a live audience changed to playing the already taped and edited show to an audience and recording their laughter to add to the original sound track. Thus, the voice-over during the end credits was changed from Rob Reiner's "All in the Family was recorded on tape before a live audience" to Carroll O'Connor's "All in the Family was played to a studio audience for live responses". (Typically, the audience would be gathered for a taping of One Day at a Time and get to see All in the Family as a bonus.) Throughout its run, Norman Lear took pride in the fact that canned laughter was never used (mentioning this on many occasions) - the audience laughter heard in the episodes was genuine.

Theme song

The series' opening theme song "Those Were the Days",[10] written by Lee Adams (lyrics) and Charles Strouse (music), was presented in a unique way for a 1970s series: Carroll O'Connor and Jean Stapleton seated at a console or spinet piano (played by Stapleton) and singing the tune on-camera at the start of every episode, concluding with live-audience applause. (The song dates back to the very first Justice for All pilot, although on that occasion O'Connor and Stapleton performed the song off-camera and at a faster tempo than the series version.) Several different performances were recorded over the run of the series, including one version that includes additional lyrics. The song is a simple, pentatonic melody (that can be played exclusively with black keys on a piano) in which Archie and Edith wax nostalgic for the simpler days of yesteryear. A longer version of the song was released as a single on Atlantic Records, reaching No. 30 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart early in 1972; the additional lyrics in this longer version lend the song a greater sense of sadness, and make poignant reference to social changes taking place in the 1960s and early 1970s. A few perceptible drifts can be observed when listening to each version chronologically: In the original version, Jean Stapleton was wearing glasses, and after the first time the lyric "those were the days" was sung over the tonic (root chord of the song's key) the piano strikes a Dominant 7th chord in transition to the next part, which is absent from subsequent versions; Jean Stapleton's screeching high note on the line "And you knew who you WEEERRE then" became louder, longer, and more comical, although it was only in the original version that audience laughter was heard in response to her rendition of the note; Carroll O'Connor's pronunciation of "welfare state" gained more of Archie's trademark enunciation, and the closing lyrics (especially "Gee, our old LaSalle ran great") were sung with increasingly deliberate articulation, as viewers had initially complained that they could not understand the words. Also in the original version: the camera angle was shot slightly from the right side of the talent as opposed to the straight on angle of the next version.

Setting and location

Lear and his writers set the series in the Queens neighborhood of Astoria. The address of the Bunkers' house at 704 Hauser Street was completely fictitious (no Hauser Street exists in Queens) and factually incorrect with the way address numbers are assigned in Queens (they are all hyphenated, beginning with a block number representing the nearest preceding cross-street, keeping in line with Queens' predominantly numerical street-naming system). Nevertheless, many episodes revealed that the Bunkers lived near the actual major east-west thoroughfare Northern Boulevard , where Kelcy’s Bar and later Archie Bunker's Place were located.

The façade of a house shown during the show's opening credits is actually located in Glendale, Queens... at 89-70 Cooper Avenue (Template:Coord).

Many real-life Queens institutions are mentioned throughout the series. Carroll O’Connor, a real life Queens native from Forest Hills, said in an interview with the Archive of American Television that he suggested to the writers many of the locations to give the series authenticity. For example it is revealed that Archie attended Flushing High School, a real high school located in Flushing, Queens (although in the "Man Of The Year" episode of ''Archie Bunker's Place'', it is revealed that Archie attended Bryant High School in Long Island City, graduating in 1940), while Edith mentioned several times throughout the series that she shops at Gertz Department store, a then-existing department store located in Jamaica and Flushing, Queens. Additionally, the 1976 episode "The Baby Contest" deals with Archie entering baby Joey in a "cutest baby" contest sponsored by the Flushing Tribune, a then-operating local newspaper (now known as the Queens Tribune).

Throughout the series, the writers of All in the Family continued to have the Bunkers (as well as other characters) use telephone exchange names when stating phone numbers, at a time when AT&T was earnestly trying to discontinue their use (most other TV series at the time, such as The Mary Tyler Moore Show, used a standard "555" to begin a telephone number). At different times throughout the series, the telephone exchanges Ravenswood (RA#) and Bayside (BA#) were used for the Bunkers' telephone number. Both exchanges were, and still are, applicable names for phone numbers in the neighborhoods of Astoria and Bayside. This may have had to do with the fact that at the time many major cities in the United States, such as New York, were resisting the dropping of telephone exchange names in favor of all-number dialing, and were still printing their telephone books with exchange names. This fact is referred to in the 1979 episode "The Appendectomy", when Edith, while dialing a telephone number, uses the Parkview exchange name only to correct herself by saying that she keeps forgetting that it's all number dialing now. However, she comes to the conclusion that the number is exactly the same either way.

"Sammy's Visit," first broadcast in February 1972, is a particularly notable episode, whose famous episode-ending scene produced the longest sustained audience laughter in the history of the show. Guest star Sammy Davis, Jr. plays himself in the episode. Davis leaves a briefcase behind in Archie's taxi (Archie is moonlighting as a cab driver) and goes to the Bunker home to pick it up. After hearing Archie's racist remarks, Davis asks for a photograph with him. At the moment the picture is taken, Davis suddenly kisses a stunned Archie on the cheek. The ensuing laughter went on for so long that it had to be severely edited[11] for network broadcast, as Carroll O'Connor still had one line ("Well, what the hell — he said it was in his contract!") to deliver after the kiss. (The line is usually cut in syndication.)

Syndication

During the show's sixth season in December 1975, CBS began showing reruns on weekdays. This lasted until September 1979, at which point the reruns entered off-network syndication. Since the late 1980s, All In The Family has been rerun on various networks including TBS, TV Land and Nick at Nite. Since January 3, 2011, the show has been airing on Antenna TV.

Ratings

All in the Family is one of three television shows (The Cosby Show and American Idol being the others) that have been No. 1 in the Nielsen ratings for five consecutive TV seasons. The show remained in the top-ten for eight of its nine seasons.

Spin-offs and TV specials

All in the Family was the launching pad for several television series, beginning with Maude on September 12, 1972. Maude Findlay, played by Bea Arthur, was Edith's cousin; she had first appeared on All in the Family in the episode "Cousin Maude's Visit", which aired on December 11, 1971, in order to help take care of the Bunkers when they all were sick with a nasty flu virus. Maude disliked Archie intensely - mainly because she thought Edith could have married better, but also because Archie was a conservative while Maude was very liberal in her politics, especially when Archie denounced her support of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Maude was featured in another All in the Family episode in which Archie and Edith visit her home in Tuckahoe (in Westchester County) to attend the wedding of her daughter Carol - simply titled "Maude", it aired as the finale of the second season on March 12, 1972, and was essentially designed as a "pseudo-pilot" episode to set up the premise for the spin-off series that would air later that year. Bill Macy played Walter, an appliance store owner portrayed as Maude's third husband in the episode, but fourth in the series that fall. Marcia Rodd, who played Carol in the episode, would be replaced by Adrienne Barbeau in the series. Maude lasted for six seasons and 141 episodes, airing its final episode on April 22, 1978.

The second and longest-lasting spin-off of All in the Family was The Jeffersons. Debuting on CBS on January 18, 1975, it spanned eleven seasons and 253 episodes compared to All in the Family's nine seasons and 208 episodes. The main characters of The Jeffersons were the Bunkers' former next-door neighbors George Jefferson (Sherman Hemsley) and his wife, Louise "Weezie" Jefferson (Isabel Sanford). George Jefferson was the owner of a chain of seven successful dry-cleaning stores. As The Jeffersons begins, they have just moved from the Bunkers' neighborhood to a luxury high-rise apartment building on Manhattan's Upper East Side. George was considered to be the "black Archie Bunker," just as racist and intolerant as Archie.

704 Hauser features the Bunkers' house with a new family, the key twist being the Archie Bunker analogue in this series is black. Joey Stivic, Gloria and Mike's son, now in his 20s, makes a brief appearance in the first episode.

There were also three spin-offs from spin-offs of All in the Family:

Good Times, which featured Maude's former maid Florida Evans and her family in a Chicago housing project.

Gloria, a spin-off of Archie Bunker's Place (only by virtue of being created after the continuation series began) where Gloria divorces Mike, moves back to New York, and starts a new life.

At the height of the show's popularity, Henry Fonda hosted a special one-hour retrospective of All in the Family and its impact on American television. Included were clips from the show's most memorable episodes up to that time. It was titled "The Best of 'All in the Family'", and aired on December 21, 1974.

A 90-minute retrospective, All in the Family' 20th Anniversary Special, was produced to commemorate the show's 20th anniversary and aired on CBS on February 16, 1991. It was hosted by Norman Lear, and featured a compilation of clips from the show's best moments including interviews with cast members Carroll O'Connor, Jean Stapleton, Rob Reiner and Sally Struthers. Reiner and Lear promoted the special the previous week on The Arsenio Hall Show.

The special was so well-received by the viewing audience that CBS decided to air All In The Family reruns during their summer schedule that year. During its summer run, the 20-year-old program was popular.[12]

DVD releases

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (formerly Columbia Tri-Star Home Entertainment) released the first six seasons of All In The Family on DVD-video in Region 1 between 2002-2007. No further seasons were released, because the sales figures did not match Sony's expectations.

On June 23, 2010, Shout! Factory announced that they had acquired the rights to the series, and have since released the remaining three seasons.[13][14][15][16]

On October 30, 2012, Shout! Factory released All in the Family - The Complete Series on DVD-video in Region 1. The 28-disc box set features all 208 episodes of the series as well as bonus features.[17]

DVD Title

# of Episodes

Release Date

The Complete First Season

13

March 26, 2002

The Complete Second Season

24

February 4, 2003

The Complete Third Season

24

July 20, 2004

The Complete Fourth Season

24

April 12, 2005

The Complete Fifth Season

25

January 3, 2006

The Complete Sixth Season

24

February 13, 2007

The Complete Seventh Season

25

October 5, 2010

The Complete Eighth Season

24

January 11, 2011

The Complete Ninth Season

24

May 17, 2011

The Complete Series

208

October 30, 2012

Cultural impact

Being one of television's greatest and most groundbreaking programs, the program has been referenced or parodied in countless other forms of media. References on other sitcoms include That '70s Show, The Brady Bunch and The Simpsons. The animated series Family Guy pays homage to All In The Family in the opening sequence which features Peter and Lois Griffin playing the piano and singing a lament on the loss of traditional values.

Popular T-shirts, buttons, and bumper stickers showing O'Connor's image and farcically promoting "Archie Bunker for President" appeared around the time of the 1972 presidential election. In 1998, All In The Family was honored on a 33-cent stamp by the USPS.[18]

Archie and Edith Bunker's chairs are on display in the SmithsonianNational Museum of American History.[19] Originally purchased by the show's set designer for a few dollars at a local Goodwillthrift store, the originals were given to the Smithsonian (for an exhibit on American television history) in 1978. It cost producers thousands of dollars to create replicas to replace the originals.

Also, then-US President Richard Nixon can be heard discussing the show (specifically the 1971 episodes "Writing the President" and "Judging Books by Covers") on one of the infamous Watergate tapes.[20]

Rapper Redman has made references to Archie Bunker in a few of his songs, specifically his smoking of large cigars.[21]

Burt Styler and Norman Lear for "The Saga of Cousin Oscar" (Nominated)

Philip Mishkin and Alan J. Levitt for "Mike's Problem" (Nominated)

1973

Outstanding Comedy Series (Won)

Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Comedy Series: Carroll O'Connor (Nominated; Lost to Jack Klugman for The Odd Couple)

Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Comedy Series: Jean Stapleton (Nominated; Lost to Mary Tyler Moore for The Mary Tyler Moore Show)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy: John Rich and Bob LaHendro for "The Bunkers And The Swingers" (Nominated; Lost to Jay Sandrich for The Mary Tyler Moore Show: "It's Whether You Win Or Lose")

Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in Comedy: Rob Reiner (Nominated; Lost to Ted Knight for The Mary Tyler Moore Show)

Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in Comedy: Sally Struthers (Nominated; Lost to Valerie Harper for The Mary Tyler Moore Show)

Outstanding Directing in a Comedy or Comedy-Variety or Music Series: Paul Bogart for "California, Here We Are", Part II (Nominated; Lost to Noam Pitlik for Barney Miller: "The Harris Incident")

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series: Carroll O'Connor (Won)

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series: Jean Stapleton (Nominated; Lost to Ruth Gordon for Taxi: "Sugar Mama")

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy or Comedy-Variety or Music Series: Sally Struthers for "California, Here We Are" (Won)

Outstanding Video Tape Editing for a Series: Hal Collins and Harvey W. Berger for "The 200th Episode Celebration of 'All in the Family'" (Nominated; Lost to Andy Zall for the pilot episode of Stockard Channing in Just Friends)

Outstanding Writing in a Comedy or Comedy-Variety or Music Series: Milt Josefsberg, Phil Sharp, Bob Schiller and Bob Weiskopf for "California, Here We Are", Part II (Nominated; Lost to Alan Alda for M*A*S*H: "Inga")